Angus Houston, head of the Australian agency coordinating the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, said the month-long hunt in the Indian
Ocean was at a critical stage given the batteries in the black box
beacons had already reached the end of their 30-day expected life.

Malaysia released the full transcript of communications
between the Boeing 777 and local air traffic control before it dropped
from civilian radar in the early hours of March 8 as it flew from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing.

U.S. officials close to the investigation last week said the FBI
examined data it received from a home-made flight simulator and other
computer equipment used by MH370's pilots, but found nothing
illuminating.

A US official said the Boeing 777-200 wasn't transmitting data to the satellite, but sending out a signal to establish contact. Boeing offers a satellite service that can receive a stream of data during flight on how the aircraft is functioning.

China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for
National Defense (SASTIND) released three images of the debris, taken
last week about 100 miles off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Malaysian Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he had been informed that a
Chinese satellite had spotted an object 22.5 metres by 13 metres. Planes and
ships have been searching the area of the earlier discovery for three days but
have found nothing so far.

While such incidents have happened before, the topic remains almost
taboo, with investigators and officials reluctant to conclude that a
pilot purposely crashed a plane in order to commit suicide even when the evidence appears compelling.